Underneath My Skin
by BrisbaneGirl
Summary: Chad Danforth is struggling with who he is and afraid to speak to anyone about his situation. His withdrawal from the Wildcats is raising eyebrows at East High, but what lands at his feet one dark and stormy night, will change his life forever. ChadxRyan
1. One Stormy Night

Underneath My Skin

_**Underneath My Skin**_

_Chad Danforth is struggling with who he is and afraid to speak to anyone about his situation. His withdrawal from the Wildcats is raising eyebrows at East High, but what lands at his feet one dark and stormy night, will change his life forever. ChadxRyan (Chyan)_

_Disclaimer: I obviously don't own it…_

Chad Danforth hated rain. He hated the cold that came with it and the inevitable need to remain indoors. The Wildcats had all headed off to the movies together to see the new action blockbuster. He didn't want to go. Lately he had no desire to hang out with his team mates and their girls. They were still his friends and he did miss them but he felt like he needed to be alone. That's why he had hoped into his car and was simply driving aimlessly around Albuquerque. He just wanted to be alone, he needed to sort his head out.

He flicked his blinker and turned left onto another street, still not sure where he was going. He had secretly always known there was something different about him, feelings he couldn't explain. Feelings he was struggling to understand and feelings he would never reveal to his team mates. They were suspicious already. He was spending inordinate amounts of time with Ryan Evans. The only one that seemed to care was Troy. The others simply got on with their lives and let him get on with his. Troy didn't like that Chad was spending his time with Ryan instead of with him, but Chad was almost beyond the point of caring. Troy had Gabriella and everyone assumed that Chad had Taylor, but he didn't. Taylor had drifted off to someone in the Science Club or Chem Club or something. Although they were still friends, he was almost on his own.

The rain started coming down harder and Chad scowled at it. Stupid weather was matching his mood. The road was straight, which didn't escape him as ironic and Chad was able to continue his train of thought.

The only one remotely interested in what was actually going on in his life was Ryan. He cared that Chad's parents were always fighting. He let Chad crash at his house most nights of the week. Sharpay never commented on it, she just gave him a smile…which did creep him out a bit. Chad and Ryan played baseball and watched the games together on TV all night. Ryan plied him with sports bloopers and chips when Taylor had left him and was always on hand with more when something else went wrong in his life. Although he and Troy were still as close as brothers, his relationship with Ryan was something totally different. It was something that Chad couldn't quite put his finger on.

Ryan copped a lot from some of the jocks off other teams at East High and nothing made Chad angrier. Ryan was different and in order to prove their heterosexuality, some morons attacked Ryan. Chad had found him in the locker rooms several times after being beaten. Ryan refused to say who was attacking him but promised Chad, Troy and the other wildcat basketballers that it wasn't anyone from their team but remained tightlipped about who it actually was. Chad had to sneak him home past Sharpay and their parents because Ryan didn't want to tell them either. Chad hated seeing Ryan hurt.

As this train of thought continued, something appeared on the side of the road. Chad couldn't quite tell what it was but it was covered in blood. As he neared it, he realised that it was a person, a young person. He quickly pulled the car over and parked. Chad flung the door open and thundered down the sidewalk as the person staggered and fell, face down. As he got closer, Chad could see that the person had blond hair and that his clothes were dirty and torn. Chad fell to his knees beside the person and saw that they were breathing, very faintly. He rolled them over so gently and felt his heart stop.

It was Ryan.


	2. Waiting For Help

Underneath My Skin

_**Underneath My Skin**_

_Chad Danforth is struggling with who he is and afraid to speak to anyone about his situation. His withdrawal from the Wildcats is raising eyebrows at East High, but what lands at his feet one dark and stormy night, will change his life forever. ChadxRyan (Chyan)_

_Disclaimer: I obviously don't own it…_

Chad stumbled backwards away from Ryan in disbelief. It just couldn't be Ryan. He was supposed to be at home, practicing with Sharpay. He crawled back to the body lying on the ground and it truly broke his heart. There was now no doubt in his mind that it was Ryan. Even though he looked nothing like the Ryan that Chad loved hanging around with. The smile was gone, replaced by nothing and the eyes that sparkled when he laughed lay closed against his ashen face. Chad leant over Ryan's face and felt that his breath was very shallow and uneven. Chad lifted Ryan's head into his lap and then debated his options. It was obvious that Ryan was quite badly hurt and going to hospital was necessary but should he ring an ambulance or take him in the car. Chad looked down and Ryan began to cough. Blood leaked out of the corner of his mouth and Chad freaked. He frantically began a pat search of himself for his phone and couldn't find it. Swearing under his breath, he began to search the pockets of Ryan's jeans, silently praying that the phone was there. He found it in one of the front pockets and pulled it out. He desperately dialled 911 as Ryan began to cough again.

"911 Emergency" The operator sounded bored and Chad had a sudden desire to murder him.

"I need an ambulance to the corner of Military Road and Tosca Street."

"Is it a true emergency?"

Chad was really angry now. What did this idiot think?

"Of course it's a real emergency. My friend is leaking blood out of his fucking mouth. I want an ambulance here now?"

The operator appeared to now believe him because he said "The ambulance is on its way."

Chad slammed the phone down and glared at it. Ryan coughed again and Chad pulled him up so that Ryan was sitting upright against his chest. The rain was still pouring and Chad snorted at the thought that he could be joining Ryan in hospital with pneumonia. As they sat there in the driving rain, Chad thought about how much he enjoyed Ryan's company and wondered what he would do if something happened to him.

'No, don't think like that. Ryan will be fine and we can go back to hanging out and spending time together.' Chad desperately coached himself. He looked down at Ryan and gently hugged him tighter to his chest. He began talking to him, hoping that it would help Ryan hold on.

"You have to be ok Ry. Sharpay would kill me if something happened to you…if I let something happen to you. You wouldn't want her to impale me on her stiletto heels or force me to wear sparkles for the rest of my life. Please Ryan…just hold on."

In the distance, Chad could hear the sirens of the ambulance coming closer.

"Just hold on a little longer. We can go to the World Series together and I promise I'll go to Broadway and watch whatever shows you want."

The ambulance pulled up nearby and the paramedics rushed out. As they loaded Ryan onto the stretcher, Chad rushed back to his car and grabbed his bag. He locked it and ran back to the ambulance and climbed in the back with Ryan. The paramedic looked at him sadly and Chad chose to ignore him. Ryan would be fine. He just had to be.

They pulled up at the hospital and they unloaded Ryan and Chad followed. He was so tired from staring, almost unblinking at Ryan for the entire half hour journey to the hospital. The paramedics wheeled Ryan into the Emergency ward and as Chad attempted to follow him beyond the waiting room and the nurse gently stopped him.

"I'm sorry honey but you can't go any further. Your friend is in good hands. Just have a sit down and a drink and let us take care of him. What's his name?"

Chad just looked as the doors as they closed behind Ryan before looking at the Nurse. She smiled sadly at him again

"His name is Ryan Evans…" Chad said before turning and heading over to a seat in the corner. He fished out Ryan's phone and opened it. It was a picture of Ryan and Chad on the school baseball diamond. Chad had an arm draped around Ryan's shoulder and they were both smiling. Chad smiled sadly and looked in Ryan's phonebook. Sharpay's number. Chad took a deep breath and waited as the phone dialled and then rang.

"Ryan! What the hell?" I've been waiting forever. If you have been out with Danforth…honestly you two see each other all the time." Sharpay was shrieking into the phone and people were staring.

"Sharpay…its Chad…I found Ryan on the side of the road…he's really hurt…I think you should come."

It was one of the single worst things that Chad had ever said to anyone. Sharpay let out a horrified gasp and hung up on him but Chad knew that she was coming. As he placed Ryan's phone back in his pocket, his own cell began to vibrate in his bag. He pulled it out and looked at the caller ID. It was Troy. The movie must of finished and they probably wanted him to meet them somewhere. Chad took another deep breath before answering the phone.

"Hey Chad…Dude where are you? We wanna know if you want to come back to mine because we are all going. If you are with Ryan he is welcome to come too, but dude you both could have come I mean come on…"

Chad sucked in a sharp breath. The others believed that he blew them off to spend time with Ryan. As he prepared to answer he could hear arguing.

"That wasn't nice Troy. You shouldn't be so abrupt. Give me the phone…give it to me…"

Chad could hear a scuffle on the other end of the phone before Gabriella was speaking to him.

"You don't have to come Chad if you and Ryan are having fun. We can all get together again tomorrow or something."

Chad was now struggling to breathe. The words were in his mind but they weren't making the transition to his voicebox.

"Gabriella…Gab…I won't be able to come. I'm at the hospital."

Gabriella gasped and began babbling at a thousand words a minute.

"Chad, are you alright? We are on our way…I promise we will be there as soon as we can. Why didn't you tell us before we went out?"

Chad could feel the tears burning behind his eyes and before he could stop them, they were rolling down his cheeks.

"Its not me. Its Ryan. I found him all bloody on the roadside. He had blood coming out of his mouth. I'm scared Gab. I'm scared he won't make it."

"We are coming right now. Don't worry. Ryan will be fine. Just hang in there." Gabriella hung up and Chad wiped away his tears.

Chad was left to contemplate horrible things for another ten minutes. Neither the Wildcats nor Sharpay had arrived in that time and Chad was started to get annoyed. He knew that he was becoming irrational, but he couldn't help it. Suddenly the glass doors that separated the waiting room and the emergency department opened and a doctor stepped out.

"Anyone here with Ryan Evans…Ryan Evans."

Chad jumped to his feet and raced over. The doctor looked at him and Chad was terrified because he couldn't read anything in his eyes. The doctor nodded before saying

"You should come inside…"


	3. So Many Questions

_**Underneath My Skin**_

_Chad Danforth is struggling with who he is and afraid to speak to anyone about his situation. His withdrawal from the Wildcats is raising eyebrows at East High, but what lands at his feet one dark and stormy night, will change his life forever. ChadxRyan (Chyan)_

_Authors Note: For the lovely reveiwers that wanted to know if Ryan was ok. This shortish update is for you. Next installment coming soon. On with the story below. xoxo_

_Disclaimer: I obviously don't own it…_

_Beep…Beep…Beep_

It was the single most annoying sound in the history of the universe and Ryan couldn't work out what the hell would be making that sound. His mind was fuzzy and he didn't remember anything except walking home from school. His mind since then was a painful blur and his eyes felt so heavy. Ryan felt like there were weights sitting on his eyelids as he attempted to open them. He shut them again when the light hurt his eyes even more. White walls. That was what he had seen for the nanosecond that his eyes had been open. This set his mind on a whirlwind, as much of it that was working. His room certainly didn't have white walls, neither did Sharpay's, the living room, Troy's living room, Chad's living room, Zeke's living room or Chad's bedroom. East High had white walls but Ryan was sure that he wouldn't be lying on his back listening to beeping in the middle of the school corridor.

_Beep…Beep…Beep_

It was starting to get really irritating. Ryan was getting a headache. He decided to move his limbs, just to make sure that they still worked. His arms felt very still and really sore, something which he decided to ignore for the moment. As he moved his legs, his body came into contact with something and he heard and felt the rustle of sheets. Ryan then opened his eyes and tried to sit up and couldn't. His body felt like it was on fire. He let out a small whimper and fell back against the cushions. As he took in surroundings, he realised that was his legs had come into contact with was in fact, a person. That person had their head down on the bed next to his legs and was snoring loudly. Ryan was surprised that he could hear the beeping over the snoring.

Chad Danforth was lying at Ryan's knees. His bush like hair everywhere all over Ryan's sheets and an ipod earphone in one ear. Ryan attempted to sit up again glaring at the heart monitor which was still beeping. Again, his body protested the seemingly enormous effort of making that once simple movement and he again fell back against the sheets with a larger groan and he again let his eyes fall shut. They just felt so heavy. He heard and felt Chad sit up but his eyes just felt so heavy and he was so tired.

Chad sat up after what he swore was Ryan letting out a cry. It was the first sound that he had heard. The doctor had told him that Ryan had broken ribs and a dislocated knee and elbow as well as internal damage and severe bruising but that Ryan would live. Several people the rushed around the ER. A major traffic accident nearby was blocking several roads and traffic was banked back for miles. Chad suspected that Sharpay and the Wildcats wouldn't be there for a while. After clearing it with the doctor, Chad headed into sit next to Ryan's bed. It broke his heart to see Ryan, almost as pale as the sheets. He sat there and started at Ryan for what seemed like an eternity until he couldn't keep his eyes open anymore. He had laid his head down and had drifted off to sleep, listening to the playlist that Ryan had made for him.

Now he was looking at Ryan again. He didn't look as pale as he did before. He reached over and squeezed Ryan's hand. He nearly jumped out of his skin when he felt Ryan, ever so gently; squeeze it back. Chad leant further forward and picked their hands up off the bed.

"Ryan…Ryan…Ry…talk to me…"

Chad was barely breathing as he saw Ryan gently open his eyes and look at him. Chad had never felt happier, not even when the Wildcats had won the Championships or over the summer. Ryan took a few breaths before giving Chad a small smile that made Chad's heart soar.

"Hey"

Ryan's voice was hoarse and seemed like it hadn't been used in weeks even though Chad had only talked to him that very morning.

"Hey…how are you feeling? I thought that…I thought was we had lost you. Jesus Ry. Why were you out there…I thought that you were practicing with Sharpay. Why were you hurt."

Chad knew that it probably wasn't a good idea to be throwing so many questions at Ryan but he couldn't help it. He had been riding so many emotions since he first found Ryan on the side of the road.

"I don't know…I don't remember what happened."

Ryan smiled sadly at Chad again but inside Ryan was lying. He remembered what had happened. As he opened his mouth to tell Chad, the door burst open.

Sharpay burst in closely followed by the Wildcats. Sharpay had been crying and Chad could see that Gabriella and Taylor had been too. As they crowded around Ryan's bed, Chad sat there and looked at him and he could tell that Ryan knew exactly what had happened.


	4. Waiting at Home

Underneath My Skin

_**Underneath My Skin**_

_Chad Danforth is struggling with who he is and afraid to speak to anyone about his situation. His withdrawal from the Wildcats is raising eyebrows at East High, but what lands at his feet one dark and stormy night, will change his life forever. ChadxRyan (Chyan)_

**Authors note:** A billion apologies for the very delayed post. I am thrilled that so many people like the story and I have been exploring several directions for the story to go (all Chyan of course) and it has taken me a while to settle into one. This chapter is sort of random but I hope you guys will stick around as over the next few chapters, Chad and his fellow wildcats use some detective skills to identify the culprit and bring them to justice..  
Now on with the chapter

_Disclaimer: I obviously don't own it…_

Ryan stayed in hospital for another two days under observation. Chad visited him everyday and was there to greet him when he was discharged. Ryan had not once admitted to knowing who had attacked him and Chad was starting to get upset. It was almost like Ryan didn't trust him and that hurt. Chad and Ryan had gotten into the habit of telling each other absolutely everything, Chad whinging about basketball and Troy while Ryan complained about Sharpay, Drama and Sharpay some more. It was deeply disgruntling to not know what had happened to Ryan. It was almost like there was this invisible barrier between them and Chad hated it.

While Ryan's parents picked him up at the hospital, Chad waited at their home with Sharpay. Her usually waspish demeanour had changed dramatically since Ryan has been hospitalised and instead of criticising and judging Chad as they sat together in the kitchen waiting for the remaining Evans family members to get home, she simply sat in silence and stared off into space with her arms folded across her chest. Although Chad hadn't really spoken to the other Wildcats since Ryan's attack, Zeke had been particularly disturbed by Sharpay's sudden and deafening silence. So as they sat together Chad stared at her. Sharpay was generally a very confusing person. She had mood swings so dramatic that you'd wonder if a typhoon had struck her to change her mood so rapidly. She didn't even acknowledge his gaze, simply staring further off in the distance, decidedly ignoring him or simply forgetting that he was present.

This got Chad thinking. Sharpay and Ryan were very close. Sharpay must know who upset Ryan and why the upset him. It was therefore conceivable that she did know who had attacked Ryan. Both her parents and Zeke had tried to coax her to talk about who had been giving Ryan a hard time but she simply wouldn't budge. She was as hard to crack as a walnut and could be as venomous as a snake when the desire took her. Chad desperately wanted to know who had hurt Ryan. He had never wanted to know anything more in his life. He wanted to rip the person responsible to pieces with his bare hands. He was however, afraid of Sharpay and what she would do to him if he asked her. He could imaging a million horrible ways she could punish him for being nosy and asking about something that she would assume had nothing to do with him. In Chad's opinion, it had everything to do with him. Putting aside his complex feelings for Ryan, friends look out for each other and helped each other threw periods that were difficult because that's what friends were, the people who helped pick up the pieces when things didn't go quite right. Therefore, anything that happened to hurt or upset Ryan was Chad's business because Chad was his friends. Content with this argument, he turned to Sharpay.

As he opened his mouth, Sharpay burst into tears and threw herself at him and left Chad wondering what he had gotten himself into. She buried her face in his shoulder and proceeded to drench his brand new shirt with her tears. She was mumbling incoherently as she clutched him. Chad awkwardly brought his arms around her and again wondered how he had ended up as a human tissue. He patted her on the back until she calmed down enough to talk coherently but in Chad's opinion, she still wasn't making much sense but he could at least understand what she was saying.

"Its all my fault, all my fault."

Sharpay repeated as she clutched him and Chad was dumbstruck. It was pretty obvious that Ryan was attacked by someone who was very strong and he doubted that even Sharpay in one of her tempers that she could have defeated the person that attacked Ryan. Although afraid of the answer, he decided to ask her why she had concluded that it was her fault.

"Come on Sharpay, how is this your fault. Its not like you have to be with him every second and protect him from everything. No one blames you."

She pulled away from him and little and looked at him with mascara running down her face.

"If I hadn't been so insistent on rehearsing, he would have been with you and this wouldn't of happened but I told him that he saw you enough and he would live if he spent one night away from you and the endless baseball that you guys watch and he got hurt…."

She then reburied her face in his shoulder and continued to cry. Chad sighed and resumed patting her back. He could see where she was coming from but he still thought it was stupid and told her so.

Sharpay soon recovered from her bout of tears with ice cream and they sat in a comfortable silence until Ryan arrived home with their parents. Chad watched the smile on Sharpay's face fall when Ryan and their parents turned away from her. Chad and Ryan went up to Ryan's room and Chad helped him with his arm in its sling before folding out his camp bed. He knew that Ryan didn't want to talk about what had happened and as they crawled into bed, Chad made a promise to himself and to Sharpay. He would find out who had hurt Ryan, no matter what the cost and they would pay severely.


	5. Morning Musing

_**Underneath My Skin **_

_**Chapter Five**_

_AN: I know I will never be able to say sorry enough for not updating for so long. I just haven't been in a good mental state for a very long time. It's not the best excuse and I am not using it as one but I found that things weren't going right in any areas of my life and I didn't have the motivation or inclination to write. I didn't want to write sad one-shots or write things into my stories that would be hard to undo later so I took a very long hiatus. I can't promise that updating will be frequent. As you may have seen, I had been blessed by my muses and have managed to update all of my WIP stories as well as a very old one I found on the remains of my hard drive after a virus tore through it. I also managed to salvage the outline for this story and I CAN reveal that the culprit will be revealed in the next few chapters and I will be revealing suspects to see if any of you can guess who did it so stay tuned for it.  
Once again I am so very sorry that I haven't updated but enjoy the chapter below and thank you to the people who PM'd and emailed me with support for my story and me while I was away, it was very nice to have your support.  
Brisbanegirl xx_

Plot outline: Chad Danforth is struggling with who he is and afraid to speak to anyone about his situation. His withdrawal from the Wildcats is raising eyebrows at East High, but what lands at his feet one dark and stormy night, will change his life forever. ChadxRyan

Sharpay Evans sat in the family kitchen, sipping on a latte and looking out the window. It was Ryan's first day back at school and she was nervous. Although the rumours around the school were basically spot on about what happened to Ryan, nobody outside the other Wildcats had actually seen him since he was attacked the previous week. Their parents had insisted that Ryan should remain at home until the worst of his injuries had mostly healed. It had been a difficult week for Ryan, stuck at home by himself during the day. Sharpay had taken the first day off with him, making sure he was ok but her Father had forced her back to school; telling her that Ryan had more than proved he could look after himself during the day. Sharpay wasn't worried about Ryan's ability to look after himself. She wanted to be close to him. He was her twin, her best friend and she knew she had failed him. Coming in to see him at the hospital and seeing how injured he was; it had very nearly destroyed her. She didn't like being at school without him, it wasn't right. People stared and it was beyond irritating. They had no idea what had happened to Ryan and she was determined to keep it that way. The standard answer when anyone enquired about Ryan was that he was sick with the flu and would be returning when he was better.

Ryan himself was sketchy on the details of exactly what happened and was unsure of many things surrounding that day. He did not remember what he did before the attack, his last memory before waking up in hospital was attending Drama Club with herself the previous afternoon. Gabriella and Taylor had confirmed that Ryan had stayed slightly later than usual to chat to them before he departed for home. He would usually wait with them for Basketball practice to be let out and the group would go on to get a milkshake some afternoons but Ryan had insisted (according to Taylor) that he had homework that needed to be completed. His car (which he had taken to school that day because it was raining and she had a dance lesson that afternoon) was at home in its usual spot, which meant that Ryan had managed to make it home from school. He had ended up a great distance from their home when he was found by Chad and Sharpay had many suspicions as to how he ended up there. It was obvious (to herself at least) that Ryan had not walked all that distance. He had to have had some assistance to get there (be it voluntary or involuntary) and he would not have taken public transport, he was far more against it than she ever was. There was nothing in that neighbourhood of interest to Ryan, no reason for him to have been there at all. It was puzzling for many reasons and their Father was threatening to hire a private eye to do his own investigation as the police had failed to turn up anything that could lead to a solid suspect.

Sharpay had spent the week alone at school but (she felt) that she had used the time wisely. In her opinion, the attack seemed to personal, to brutal and the person behind it had gone to a great deal of trouble to conceal the act, by removing Ryan to a destination far from his area and ensuring that he would be unable to identify those responsible (Sharpay was almost certain that more than one person was involved in the attack on her brother). During the week, she had observed the behaviour of her classmates, drama peers and others within the East High Community and made careful observations about them. Hidden at the bottom of her locker was a notebook, within which she had recorded her observations and complied (a rather broad) list of suspects based on their previous attitude and interactions with Ryan as well as comments and behaviour since Ryan's attack. She was hoping that with Ryan's return to school today, she would be able to further reduce the list and (she hoped) soon be able to present the information as proof of their involvement. Although she doubted that anyone would take her very seriously and people would probably disregard her observations, Sharpay felt that she was doing the right thing. She wanted to help her brother and this was one of the only ways that he was allowing her to do so (although he had no idea that she was doing it). Ryan seemed determined to appear strong despite the fact that for the first two days, he could barely move from his bed without a monumental effort. It was this effort that made him angry and sullen and all around unpleasant to be around. The Wildcats came often but rarely stayed long (with the exception of Chad) due to Ryan's bad mood. His temperament had improved over the last few days and he had been happy to see Zeke and Chad for dinner the previous night, his first real social interaction since the attack.

As she heard Ryan call out to their mother on the way down the stairs, she leant over and picked up her bag. She was driving them today, presenting a united Evans front to East High. They would meet the other Wildcats and all go to homeroom together. Chad and the other Wildcats (as well as Ryan) felt that this was particularly important. They wanted to present a united Wildcat front to the school but more importantly, they would be presenting a united front to Ryan's attacker. Proof that the attack had failed in its intent and execution and that Ryan was patched up and moving on. Sharpay felt that this would force the attackers hand but they would be ready for them this time. Sharpay smiled to herself as she picked up her car keys and headed to meet Ryan. The attacker would be getting their comeuppance soon, she would see to it. There is no revenge in the world, quite like hers.


End file.
